Best Left Forgotten
by Elling
Summary: A nearly completely forgotten memory from Sairaag, just before her battle with Phibrizzo, resurfaces at an odd time. Why does Lina get so 'bent outta shape' from it? It was only a kid... After NEXT.


**Le Disclaimer of Norm:** Don't own, just borrowing...

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One balmy summer evening found Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia seated at a table outside of the best eating-house in the current city they were in. Food was ordered in obscene amounts, and while waiting for said food to arrive, Lina and Amelia absently watched the small horde of children in the middle of the square. The happily playing children chased each other around, waiting for party-pooping adults to tell them to run along home.

The sorceress was distracted when the food was brought, food which was eagerly dug into. The typical semi-silence of the 'feeding-time-lull' fell over the table and after the first few minutes of fierce shoveling and bickering, Lina had settled down to a more… normal pace. The diminutive redhead was trying to decide on what to sample next (it was a painful tie between chicken-apple sausages and honey-glazed pork chops) when a small child's gurgling scream made her head snap up.

The shriek resonated in her ears as her eyes slid out of focus. A memory flared up, unbidden and mostly forgotten. A dark street, a crowd of people who should have been dead pressing closer. Movement in the corner of her eye, quick reactions, her dagger biting into tender flesh and a gurgled cry. Open horror of finding that the unfortunate victim was a little girl, no more than five. A child. Terror, panic, self-disgust, shocked disbelief, Sylphiel's earnest words of reassurance. Dead. The little girl was dead. The 'wonderful Lina Inverse' had killed a chil—No. She'd already been dead. They had _all_ been long dead, and just 'resurrected' to be some sort of sick puppets for Hellmaster Phibrizzo's amusement.

"Oi, Lina. You okay?"

Gourry's voice jarred her back to reality. "Wha--?"

"Are you okay?" he repeated patiently. "You went all pale…" Mild concern dominated his face. Whenever Lina stopped diving head-long into a pile of food, something was most likely wrong. He may not be the sharpest sword in the armory, but he wasn't painfully stupid either. "Something wrong with the food?" Er… Like previously said, not the sharpest…

She stared at him blankly for a moment as the sounds of the surrounding activity— fellow diners, and passersby on the lamp-lit street—filtered into her ears, draining the poison from that long-ago memory. She found that her grip on her fork might bend the utensil out of its natural shape and forced her stiff fingers to relax. "No. Food's fine. I'm fine. I'll be fine."

Gourry looked unimpressed by her unnaturally weak insistence. Lina knew it, and a faint blush returned some color to her pallid cheeks. His eyes lingered on her until she speared a chunk of potato with her fork and began to chew. Satisfied she was acting somewhat normal again the swordsman gave the faintest of shrugs and returned to his meal. As soon as Gourry's attention was off of her, Lina's false vigor faded. The bit of potato in her mouth lost its flavor (and all-around appeal, really) but she forced it down and focused on the street again. The small brown-haired girl who had tripped was being helped up by her brother now. She hugged the boy around the middle, then playfully jabbed at his stomach and skittered off giggling gleefully.

"Catch me if you can, Jeff'ry!"

"No fair, Ana, you got a head start!" The boy shouted a laughing protest and chased after her.

Eventually, the memory of Sairaag faded and she realized her food was growing cold. She re-started the mechanical process of feeding herself, though it was with much less enthusiasm. No matter how she tried, she couldn't completely shake the feeling…

Some memories were best left forgotten.

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**A/N:** I re-watched episode 50 of NEXT (at least I think it was 50...), which prompted this. A little oneshot done while trying to avoid the vast amounts of make-up schoolwork I've accumulated from my short bout of pneumonia. This kinda put me in a dark-ish mood… Math seems so uninteresting after this. And another thing. I'm not sure if I'm all that good at properly categorizing my own fics... I'm just retarded like x.o xD

Response to you lovely reviewers will probably be next time… I'm on too much meds to think straight x.o


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